bust on

English

Pronunciation

• Audio (General Australian):

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Verb

bust on (third-person singular simple present busts on, present participle busting on, simple past and past participle busted on or (colloquial) bust on)

1. (US, idiomatic) To make a joke concerning; to ridicule or make fun of.
   • 1989 April 9, “Campus Life: Rutgers Anthropologist Examines Sex Life On the Raritan”, in New York Times, retrieved 16 February 2018:

     Mr. Moffatt explained different signals that students use to express friendship, like "busting" on one another. To "bust on" someone is "to deflate their pretensions by means of aggressive verbal mockery." Mr. Moffatt explained that students only "bust on" their friends.

   • 1997 March 24, Selena Roberts, “Ethnic Insult From Calipari Results in Apology by Nets”, in New York Times, retrieved 16 February 2018:

     Three days after Nets Coach John Calipari called a reporter a "Mexican idiot," the team publicly apologized today. . . . "The way I understand it, what Cal was trying to do was bust on Garcia," Fenech said. "Once he saw Garcia's reaction, he realized he didn't think he was kidding."

   • 2007 August 19, Nick Miroff, “Kilt Shop Reveals A Loyal Clientele Itching to Be Free”, in Washington Post, retrieved 16 February 2018:

     His wife bought him his first Utilikilt four years ago, but it took him six months to get up the courage to wear it outside. He finally decided to debut it at a local beer festival. "A lot of guys were busting on me," he recalled. But others wanted their picture taken with him, asking where they could get their own kilts.

   • 2017 August 22, Christie D'Zurilla, “Diane Keaton, Candice Bergen, Jane Fonda and Mary Steenburgen get shady during the eclipse”, in Los Angeles Times, retrieved 16 February 2018:

     Diane Keaton, Candice Bergen, Jane Fonda and Mary Steenburgen took time out from shooting the 2018 movie Book Club on Monday to take in the eclipse, goofy glasses and all. While Bergen was rocking Instagram, however, Fonda actually posted less-than-perfect pics on Twitter that busted on the former "Murphy Brown" star. "Watching eclipse on set of BOOK CLUB," the Grace and Frankie star wrote. "Diane Keaton, Mary Steenburgen and I are rapt. Candice Bergen could care less#SolarEclipse2017."

2. (US, slang, African-American Vernacular) To hit or attack (someone); to insult (someone); to snitch on (someone).

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:mock

See also

• bust someone's chops

Anagrams

• no buts